As long as the sun is shining on our planet, broken or not, sin-filled or not, there is hope. Hope is what causes people to continue searching for truth, to push away thoughts of ending their life, to courageously hang on to a thread of chance. Although love and belief are the two most powerful forces in the universe, hope comes in at a strong number three. 

 

Without hope, love and belief are an incomplete trinity. Hope gives us strength to carry on, gives us courage to hold on, and gives us peace to rest on. 

 

As long as we’re still here, the Son is still illuminating the darkness which too often surrounds us in this broken and sin-filled world, and is still offering salvation to all who have yet to say yes. 

 

When Jesus was here on the earth, He spoke to different groups of people in different ways. To the self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees, He was direct about their hypocrisy and self-righteousness. To the crowds, He taught plain and simple truths, and went about performing miracles to lend evidence of who He was. And to those who followed Him, including the disciples (who were all Israelites), He spoke in parables; but why? Why speak in puzzles to those most interested?

 

The parables of Jesus are among the greatest and most picturesque lessons of His public ministry. A parable is a story about a familiar subject to teach an important moral or spiritual lesson. Many of Jesus’ parables begin with wording such as, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.” There are also examples from everyday life to convey a spiritual truth such as the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which teaches love and mercy. The parables were used to:

 

(1) Reveal truth (and mysteries) to those who were willing to hear and believe, and to

(2) Conceal truth (and mysteries) from those who rejected truth (and Christ) because of the hardness of their hearts.

 

While many became lost in the surface of His stories, true disciples could dig deeper and learn better how to walk with Christ.

 

Why did Jesus use parables in the first place, and not just reveal His teachings plainly?  In Matthew 13 Jesus explains: 

 

“Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.’ For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:10-17)

 

Also: “All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

(Matthew 13:34-35). (Also see Psalms 78:2-3)

 

The “they” (vs 13) Jesus is referring to are God’s people, Israel. Jesus reminds us that Isaiah prophesied about a dull hearted people whose spiritual blindness had rendered them unable to learn heavenly truths. Because of this, people like the scribes and Pharisees found it impossible to understand His truths, or even believe Who He was. The focus of most parables was the kingdom the Messiah was establishing. He wanted his disciples to understand He was talking about a spiritual kingdom; one not of this world, as the Jewish people (and their blind leaders) were expecting, but rather one composed of all races and all people; and one saturated by love and compassion. This kingdom, many believe, was firmly established on Pentecost after His resurrection, and Christ was already seated upon its throne in heaven. (See Acts 2:29-33). 

 

In studying the parables, we must look deeper than the surface for the true lesson. Consider the proverb: “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2) For instance, the parable of laborers in the Vineyard is not about wage equity but rather about God’s mercy. Remember, as believers and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will “abide with us forever,” will “teach us all things,” and will “bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

(John 14:26)

 

As followers of Jesus who have the Holy Spirit living in them, the parables of Christ can be demystified and learned from. For those who reject Christ, not so much. 

 

I have loved the parables and the stories Jesus told for as long as I can remember. I’m grateful to finally be able to help unscramble these thirty-nine mysteries for other believers, as well as for the lost. My prayer is that God will use this third volume to encourage you to live the life Jesus described in the Scriptures. That you will take advantage of and use the Power you already have within to impact the world around you. That people will know you belong to a Kingdom not of this world, and they will ask you about it. And that you will build and maintain an amazing relationship with your Savior Jesus Christ, both now, and in preparation for the world to come. May our Lord Jesus Christ be praised and honored and glorified by all that we say, all that we think, and all that we do.

 

H.K. Holevinsky